title: 'I could never have learned this in a lecture': transformative learning in rural health education.
abstract: Health indicators for rural populations in Australia continue to lag behind those of urban populations and particularly for Indigenous populations who make up a large proportion of people living in rural and remote Australia. Preparation of health practitioners who are adequately prepared to face the 'messy swamps' of rural health practice is a growing challenge. This paper examines the process of learning among health science students from several health disciplines from five Western Australian universities during 'Country Week': a one-week intensive experiential interprofessional education program in rural Western Australia. The paper weaves together strands of transformative theory of learning with findings from staff and student reflections from Country Week to explore how facilitated learning in situ can work to produce practitioners better prepared for rural health practice.
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, WA, 6000, Australia, sarah.prout@uwa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Prout
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nattabi
authors.forename: Charmaine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016390:Allied Health Occupations / Q000193:education; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D005260:Female; D006303:Health Services, Indigenous; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012423:Rural Health / Q000193:education*; D013336:Students, Health Occupations; D013338:Students, Nursing; D014904:Western Australia; D055815:Young Adult